Got into an argument with a MAGA-chud yesterday about the ballot boxes being blown up in Vancouver. He was adamant that it was the liberal-left ANTIFA (classic MAGA answer), and then still managed to double down when I told him the 3rd congressional district had been solidly R for the past 14 years until Herrera-Beutler stepped down in 2023 and it flipped D. Funny how the party that desperately wants to regain control of the district also wants to do away with mail-in ballots and have gone to extreme measures in the past to curtail it, but OF COURSE it totally couldn't be them behind the bombing, right? Definitely ANTIFA. /s
Serial (alleged) rapist Dave Meinert is back in the news, this time for wage theft. Will the Stranger cover it, or sweep his misdeeds under the rug because they're still buddies with the guy?
@1 Jaime Herrera Beutler didn't "step down" in 2023. She was primaried by a Proud Boy-loving, MAGA goon Joe Kent in 2022. And guess what? He's running again.
@4 totally forgot about that! I vaguely remember dems switching their party affiliating to vote for him in the primary because he'd be easier to defeat than Jaime (yet somehow barely was beat - says a lot about that district).
Joe Kent is the GOP candidate down in the Vancouver district, and heâs nutty as a fruitcake (as is much of that district, outside of Vancouver), so I think I smell a MAGA.
@7 Catalina Vel-DuRay: I read a disturbing recent article in The Seattle Times that Mike Johnson came to Vancouver to support Joe Kent and "can't wait to have him in the Senate". And suddenly Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez, who defeated rabid Trumpist Kent in the 3rd District in the 2020 election now announces she "can't endorse Kamala Harris"?? Jesus wept! Is the water supply in Vancouver contaminated?
The Orange Turd and its equally batshit MAGA loyalists in addition to Johnson and Kent are all in serious need of rabies shots. Or castration, which would be even better, nipping the root of the problem in their filthy, putrid buds.
@9, people should lose the notion that the 3rd District is Portlandia North. Besides Clark County, it also includes Lewis and Cowlitz Counties, and if you don't spend much time there, you won't understand why Trump won that district in 2016 and 2020.
Way to get out in front of the story, Brandi. Only 1 group of nutcases has been Xitting about destroying drop boxes, and it ain't Antifa (is Antifa even active any more?).
Vancouver is the home of the Proud Boys.
They're going to catch the fucker, but in the meantime, submit your ballots at the Post Office.
@12 because she needs every vote she can get - which includes republicans splitting their votes between Trump and Gluesenkamp-Perez (the fact Kent lost this race originally is pure incompetence - it would be akin to the 7th going for a republican). This is not a purple district.
God speed Rep Gluesenkamp-Perez - may you pull off the impossible again!
@9 Toe Tag: Thanks for the warning, although I've long suspected Vancouver to be a revoltingly MAGA saturated hellhole already. It is a deep, Trump's-cavernous-buttcrack-dark contrast to Portland, Oregon. WTF is WRONG with these Heil Shitler fascism crazed idiots??
I find it hard to believe it's entirely based on an extreme fear and hatred of educated and qualified women capable of leading our country and state.
@11 Max Solomon: Thank you for providing yet another reason to keep Vancouver, Washington off my Places to Visit list.
@10 Word. It's amazing that Gluesenkamp-Perez managed to win that district in the first place, and shows how far to the right Kent is. As long as she votes for a Democrat for Speaker, Gluesenkamp-Perez gets a pass on just about anything else from me. Even if she votes against every other Democratic bill (and she doesn't), she's a far better legislator for Democrats than any other person who can get elected in that district.
@12 Phoebe in Wallingford: I believe Gaza is part of it, yes. And Buddhamat @13 is right about District 3 voting.
@13 Buddhamat: Thank you for beating me to it. I hope Rep Gluesenkamp-Perez gets reelected. Joe Kent is an inept disaster, as is every other Trump loving MAGA fool.
Firing Rich is intended to send a message: "YOU"RE REPLACABLE"
Sorry Rich, but hard work never pays off in the corporate world (and yeas, TS is the corporate world).
@15 boatgeek: I think District 3 voters need another grim reminder of just how RWNJ Joe Kent is.
Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez, knowing what she was up against, doorbelled, canvassed, and reached out to women concerned in her district about retaining abortion rights and healthcare access. I'm amazed she doesn't support Kamala Harris, even with the dire situation in Gaza-Palestine.
MGP is being smart. Boatgeek is right on the money. Professional campaigns know better than to link themselves to divisive candidates or initiatives elsewhere on the ticket. In this case you'd get Kent blathering about how his opponent must likewise support "government funded sex changes for inmates and illegal immigrants," etc. Best not to agitate her already reluctant supporters.
@14 Vancouver is largely a suburb of Portland, but in recent years they developed the downtown waterfront area with a bunch of apartments and restaurants to attract a bunch of younger folks. So I'm not surprised that some MAGA creep would target ballot boxes in Vancouver and SE Portland.
@18 MGP will get plenty of support doorbelling in her district and particularly turning out women's votes. I know that I've received several invitations that I've had to decline because it's too far away. She almost certainly does support Harris, but has made the political calculation that saying that will cost her more votes than it would gain.
@18 Christ. Shut up already. You have no proof that she doesn't support Kamala. Has she ever mentioned Gaza as a reason to not publicly endorse her? I haven't seen it. It's a political calculation.
Her district is one of only 5 in the country that Trump would won in 2020 under their current lines that a Democrat flipped in 2022. She needs a lot of ticket splitters to win and even then it might not be enough to carry her in an election year.
Sorry to see you go Rich, here's how I see this went down (in a two act play):
Act one, scene 1: Noisy Creek boardroom,
Corporate Shill #1 âwe have just got to get rid of that insufferable windbag Mudede, any ideas"
Shill #2 "we can't just fire him, heâs the only POC on staffâ
Shill #3 âwell, hereâs an idea, we still have one white male on board, what if we just fire Rich then we replace him with a POC. We wait a few weeks and announce a âreorganizationâ, at that point we dump Mudede".
Shill #1 âCapital idea, kill two birds with one stone, we'll announce it immediately"
Act two, scene 1: Richâs desk at the Stranger
Rich âfunny, my key doesnât seem to work in my desk anymoreâŠ"
Scene 2: Stranger front desk
Shill #1 âWelcome aboard, you'll be taking Rich's old desk"
Best of luck Rich, itâs a tough old world out there!
Got into an argument with a MAGA-chud yesterday about the ballot boxes being blown up in Vancouver. He was adamant that it was the liberal-left ANTIFA (classic MAGA answer), and then still managed to double down when I told him the 3rd congressional district had been solidly R for the past 14 years until Herrera-Beutler stepped down in 2023 and it flipped D. Funny how the party that desperately wants to regain control of the district also wants to do away with mail-in ballots and have gone to extreme measures in the past to curtail it, but OF COURSE it totally couldn't be them behind the bombing, right? Definitely ANTIFA. /s
RIP Rich... shouldn't have been a suprise though, the last straight white male on staff. So much for DEI.
Serial (alleged) rapist Dave Meinert is back in the news, this time for wage theft. Will the Stranger cover it, or sweep his misdeeds under the rug because they're still buddies with the guy?
@1 Jaime Herrera Beutler didn't "step down" in 2023. She was primaried by a Proud Boy-loving, MAGA goon Joe Kent in 2022. And guess what? He's running again.
@4 totally forgot about that! I vaguely remember dems switching their party affiliating to vote for him in the primary because he'd be easier to defeat than Jaime (yet somehow barely was beat - says a lot about that district).
Slim pickings today. Not even a Donald or Kamala blurb.
Joe Kent is the GOP candidate down in the Vancouver district, and heâs nutty as a fruitcake (as is much of that district, outside of Vancouver), so I think I smell a MAGA.
@5 Nobody needed to switch party affiliations. WA top-two primaries are open by definition.
@7 Catalina Vel-DuRay: I read a disturbing recent article in The Seattle Times that Mike Johnson came to Vancouver to support Joe Kent and "can't wait to have him in the Senate". And suddenly Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez, who defeated rabid Trumpist Kent in the 3rd District in the 2020 election now announces she "can't endorse Kamala Harris"?? Jesus wept! Is the water supply in Vancouver contaminated?
The Orange Turd and its equally batshit MAGA loyalists in addition to Johnson and Kent are all in serious need of rabies shots. Or castration, which would be even better, nipping the root of the problem in their filthy, putrid buds.
@9, people should lose the notion that the 3rd District is Portlandia North. Besides Clark County, it also includes Lewis and Cowlitz Counties, and if you don't spend much time there, you won't understand why Trump won that district in 2016 and 2020.
Way to get out in front of the story, Brandi. Only 1 group of nutcases has been Xitting about destroying drop boxes, and it ain't Antifa (is Antifa even active any more?).
Vancouver is the home of the Proud Boys.
They're going to catch the fucker, but in the meantime, submit your ballots at the Post Office.
@9: Did Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez say why she can't endorse Kamala? Over Gaza?
@12 because she needs every vote she can get - which includes republicans splitting their votes between Trump and Gluesenkamp-Perez (the fact Kent lost this race originally is pure incompetence - it would be akin to the 7th going for a republican). This is not a purple district.
God speed Rep Gluesenkamp-Perez - may you pull off the impossible again!
@9 Toe Tag: Thanks for the warning, although I've long suspected Vancouver to be a revoltingly MAGA saturated hellhole already. It is a deep, Trump's-cavernous-buttcrack-dark contrast to Portland, Oregon. WTF is WRONG with these Heil Shitler fascism crazed idiots??
I find it hard to believe it's entirely based on an extreme fear and hatred of educated and qualified women capable of leading our country and state.
@11 Max Solomon: Thank you for providing yet another reason to keep Vancouver, Washington off my Places to Visit list.
@10 Word. It's amazing that Gluesenkamp-Perez managed to win that district in the first place, and shows how far to the right Kent is. As long as she votes for a Democrat for Speaker, Gluesenkamp-Perez gets a pass on just about anything else from me. Even if she votes against every other Democratic bill (and she doesn't), she's a far better legislator for Democrats than any other person who can get elected in that district.
@12 Phoebe in Wallingford: I believe Gaza is part of it, yes. And Buddhamat @13 is right about District 3 voting.
@13 Buddhamat: Thank you for beating me to it. I hope Rep Gluesenkamp-Perez gets reelected. Joe Kent is an inept disaster, as is every other Trump loving MAGA fool.
Firing Rich is intended to send a message: "YOU"RE REPLACABLE"
Sorry Rich, but hard work never pays off in the corporate world (and yeas, TS is the corporate world).
@15 boatgeek: I think District 3 voters need another grim reminder of just how RWNJ Joe Kent is.
Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez, knowing what she was up against, doorbelled, canvassed, and reached out to women concerned in her district about retaining abortion rights and healthcare access. I'm amazed she doesn't support Kamala Harris, even with the dire situation in Gaza-Palestine.
MGP is being smart. Boatgeek is right on the money. Professional campaigns know better than to link themselves to divisive candidates or initiatives elsewhere on the ticket. In this case you'd get Kent blathering about how his opponent must likewise support "government funded sex changes for inmates and illegal immigrants," etc. Best not to agitate her already reluctant supporters.
@14 Vancouver is largely a suburb of Portland, but in recent years they developed the downtown waterfront area with a bunch of apartments and restaurants to attract a bunch of younger folks. So I'm not surprised that some MAGA creep would target ballot boxes in Vancouver and SE Portland.
@18 MGP will get plenty of support doorbelling in her district and particularly turning out women's votes. I know that I've received several invitations that I've had to decline because it's too far away. She almost certainly does support Harris, but has made the political calculation that saying that will cost her more votes than it would gain.
@18 Christ. Shut up already. You have no proof that she doesn't support Kamala. Has she ever mentioned Gaza as a reason to not publicly endorse her? I haven't seen it. It's a political calculation.
Her district is one of only 5 in the country that Trump would won in 2020 under their current lines that a Democrat flipped in 2022. She needs a lot of ticket splitters to win and even then it might not be enough to carry her in an election year.
Ever since vocal fry Kruse started running around with that talk radio unibrow goon, she's really been chasing the MAGOG.
Sorry to see you go Rich, here's how I see this went down (in a two act play):
Act one, scene 1: Noisy Creek boardroom,
Corporate Shill #1 âwe have just got to get rid of that insufferable windbag Mudede, any ideas"
Shill #2 "we can't just fire him, heâs the only POC on staffâ
Shill #3 âwell, hereâs an idea, we still have one white male on board, what if we just fire Rich then we replace him with a POC. We wait a few weeks and announce a âreorganizationâ, at that point we dump Mudede".
Shill #1 âCapital idea, kill two birds with one stone, we'll announce it immediately"
Act two, scene 1: Richâs desk at the Stranger
Rich âfunny, my key doesnât seem to work in my desk anymoreâŠ"
Scene 2: Stranger front desk
Shill #1 âWelcome aboard, you'll be taking Rich's old desk"
Best of luck Rich, itâs a tough old world out there!
@25 Mudede brings the clicks though. For that one reason - can't imagine TS cutting him loose.
Brandi Kruse is Washington's own Kari Lake.
I seriously doubt that anyone in District three gives a fig about Palestine.
All of Southwest WA, south of Olympia, is creepy old weirdos and methy-meth-meth-meth-meth young people.
The plot thickens
https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2024/10/free-gaza-messages-found-on-devices-at-burned-ballot-boxes-new-york-times-reports.html
Not really a MAGA calling card
honestly, you can't fire Mudede. This city doesn't have another eccentric black journalist with his background. Well as far as we know.
District13refugee dear, don't you think that's a rather ham-handed attempt at deflection? I guess we'll find out when they find the arsonist.